AP high court to pass orders on petition against IAS officer on Monday

Vijayawada: The high court on Friday said it would pass appropriate orders on Monday in the petition filed against IAS officer Ahmed Babu, chief commissioner of state tax, who is facing allegations of harassing employees by denying promotions.Andhra Pradesh Govt Employees' Association general secretary M Ramesh Kumar had moved the high court, seeking directions to the Central Vigilance Commission to initiate action against Ahmed Babu over alleged irregularities in tax collections and for allegedly harassing employees by withholding their promotions.When the matter came up for hearing on Thursday, the high court took serious note of the conduct of Ahmad Babu, and directed advocate general Dammalapati Srinivas to submit details of the action taken by the chief secretary on the representation submitted by the petitioner. On Friday, Srinivas informed the bench that the representation submitted by the petitioner is still under examination by the chief secretary. He submitted that there would be no objection if the case was disposed of with a direction to the chief secretary to consider the representation and pass suitable orders, adding that ordering an inquiry against the IAS officer would require hearing out his version.Senior counsel K S Murthy, appearing for the petitioner, urged the court to direct the chief secretary to resolve employees' issues and, if necessary, order an inquiry against Ahmad Babu. Considering the arguments, Justice Battu Devanand said appropriate orders would be passed on Monday.